Learning Forum

[Newtoan]

Hello everyone,

My question is pretty straight forward. I want to know how to apply a force that stays vertical to a cantilever beam's free end as it deforms due to that force. I tried setting up a coordinate system at the end of the beam, but I ended up getting the exact same results for both the global and the new coordinate systems, so I'm guessing I'm messing up somewhere. I don't know if this matters but, the beam is a line body and I'm using large deflections.

[peteroznewman]

@Newtoan, Use the Search box at the top if this page, type Follower Force and you will get results such as:n

What is a non-conservative follower force?/forum/discussion/comment/89837#Comment_89837

n

[Newtoan]

Dear ArraynI did some research as you suggested and the only relevant results were actually the ones you provided. To sum it up, there were two solutions, either convert the force to a pressure or use a code. The first approach I can't use because the beam is a line body and pressure isn't even an option in the loads menu. So, I'm left with this code:nET,CID,FOLLW201 !DEFINE THE FOLLWER LOAD ELEMENTnKEYOPT,CID,1,0 !UPDATE THE LOAD DIRECTIONnKEYOPT,CID,2,0 ! USE ALL DEGREES OF FREEDOM OF REMOTE POINTnnESURFn but I keep keep getting an error message saying An unknown error occurred during solution. I tried to follow the instructions to the best I could so I don't know what I'm doing wrong.nn

[peteroznewman]

In the physical world, how is the follower force created?nIn the Mechanical software, where did you put the code?nWhat version of ANSYS are you using?n

[Newtoan]

nPhysically, the way the follower force is created is almost the same as your suggested solution, a small surface of another object is in contact with (or better yet glued to) the tip of the beam and it forces it to bend to a certain angle, and since it is sort of a pressure applied to a surface, the corresponding force should always remain perpendicular to that surface. I already have the analytical work done and just wanted to compare results with FEA using Ansys. As for the code, I inserted it under the remote point just as instructed, and I'm using version 18.1.nn

[freud farid]

hi Newtoan
did you find any solution to apply follower load 
i have the same problem ,i need to apply a follower load for this example /forum/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/24-05-2023-1684969421-follower%20force.png